Sometime along the road to “rehADDilitation” it comes to one’s attention that words have meanings — new meanings! What follows is a beginning compendium of words which many people with AD/HD have been hearing, and using, for years, without truly grasping their fullest and most accurate meanings. Some people find it amusing to make light of such errors, but the cognitive lapses responsible for “not getting it” are serious business. Relationships at home and at work are all affected by our use, and misuse, of words and the concepts they are intended to convey.

Leaving means your hand is on the doorknob. It does not mean you start gathering up your stuff, looking for your coat, grabbing a few things to take to the dry cleaners, making out a quick grocery list, perching on the edge of your chair saying, “I’m coming …” in a pressured tone. Leaving means your …

Review: SHADES OF TRAUMA, by Jane Uttley Adelizzi, Ph.D. Published by Jones River Press, Plymouth MA.

Patricia O. Quinn, MD – Having worked with girls and women with AD/HD for quite some time now, I was very excited to discover this book on my desk. I went home and devoured it the first evening. This brief, powerful book deals with the shades of trauma as they exist in the everyday lives of girls and women and describes how traumas large and small can step in the way of ordinary getting about in school, home, friendships and work. Presented as a collection of stories drawn from the life experiences of many women who share their thoughts, insights, and hope about surviving psychological trauma, Dr Adelizzi illustrates how psychological traumatic events affect learning and functioning in women with LD/ADD.

Dr. Adelizzi defines classroom trauma as … “a significantly unpleasant (or horrific) external event …

Dr. Patricia Quinn is a developmental pediatrician in the Washington, D.C. area. A graduate of the Georgetown University Medical School, she specializes in child development and psychopharmacology. Dr. Quinn has worked for over 28 years in the areas of ADHD and learning disabilities. She gives workshops nationwide and has appeared on Lifetime TV’s New Attitudes and the PBS show, To the Contrary discussing the issue of girls and women with ADD. Dr. Quinn also appeared in the video aired on PBS titled, OUTSIDE IN: A Look at Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder.

Dr. Quinn is the author of several other books on ADHD. These include the best-selling book, Putting on the Brakes: A Young People’s Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder for children in the 8 to 12 year old group, the companion workbook, The “Putting on the Brakes” Activity Book for Young People with ADHD, and The Best …

Dear Dr. Nadeau,
I have suffered with most symptoms of ADD my entire life, but wasn’t diagnosed with anything until college. In college, a thorough assessment was made and I was diagnosed with symptoms of ADD relating to anxiety (or vice versa, as in, one was causing the other). I was medicated for the anxiety for almost two years and that made the problem quite manageable.

However; I have stopped taking the medication because of potential side effects and because I would prefer to cope with the problem in other ways (I don’t want to be dependent on a medication).

In most areas of my life I have kept things manageable (in organization and money areas, for example) but in other major areas (like completing important projects) I am still having major difficulties. The anxiety is also a significant problem; for example, when I wake up in the morning, I …

by Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC
Strategic Life Coach
Judy’s challenges at work were taking a toll on her personal life, diminishing her self- esteem and threatening her career. In supervision she always received comments such as, “Judy, you have so much talent to offer our company but you need to be more organized and less distractible. You need to put more effort into improving your work performance or you’ll risk loosing your job.” Judy had tried everything – making lists, coming in early, staying late and working weekends. Nothing seemed to work. Eventually, she sought the services of a coach to help her address these challenges.

In the initial interview with her coach it became clear that Judy needed to set up structures and organizational systems to keep track of her projects and paper work. Through discussing the details of a typical day her coach pointed out several areas …

–Ask Dr. Nadeau-

Dear Dr. Nadeau,

I’m 38 years old, married for almost five years (second marriage) and have an 18 month-old son. I have not held a job for more than six to nine months, except for one that was three years. Currently, I have been working at home since 2000 as a typist/transcriptionist after becoming so frustrated trying to work in office positions. I have a relatively high I.Q. and believe that is one of the reasons I have been able to “get by” for so long. However, the amount of energy it has taken me to “get by” is debilitating and leaves me thoroughly exhausted on a daily basis.

My frustration level is reaching its maximum overload, and I don’t know what else to do. I’m just so exhausted from trying to live life, while it seems so effortless for others. I’m discouraged and feel so …

Spring has sprung, even in the hinterlands. We hope this issue of ADDvance comes to you as the rays of first warming sunshine wend their way through tree limbs fat with buds. Robins are back in the north, and probably radishes are up in southern gardens.

For the woman with AD/HD, the changing of the seasons — no matter how consistent and predictable, no matter how organic and non-arbitrary – can come as a shock. “I’m not ready!” is a familiar refrain. Holiday decorations still scattered about in unclosed boxes ought to have been a signal to the crocuses that it’s not time, yet. But Nature does what it does, and we hang onto her shirttails, setting out fall-planting bulbs in March. A certain feel to the air, a certain way the light looks different now, has some of us simply dreading the oncoming good weather. Our minds turn …

HELP FOR 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL: Dr. Quinn Answers a Mother’s Questions

Dear Dr. Quinn:
This combination of coexisting conditions can sometimes be difficult to treat as stimulants often make the anxiety worse.

You may need to treat the anxiety first with a drug like Celexa or Effexor (both are SSRI antidepressants). Then you need to add a low dose of stimulant to treat the focusing, attention, and ODD problems.

We did find success with Effexor 150mg once a day. She is still having focusing problems and she has some authority problems. (She was also diagnosed with a smidge of ODD).

You have yet to treat your daughter’s ADHD and ODD. Ask your physician about a low dose of stimulant. Starting low and gradually increasing the dose usually allows for improvement of symptoms without side effects or making other symptoms worse.

She is being home-schooled this year since her school district would …

 

It’s cold most places where you are reading, and it’s been cold for the writers. Holidays have come and gone, and now we settle in for the dark days and nights to wait for the first crocus. This issue of ncgiadd Online Magazine may tide you over in the flower department: we feature the personal account of a woman who was able to truly make art her work after her diagnosis and treatment with psychostimulant medication, and she paints, among other things, flowers!

We also bring you an opportunity to participate in research on women and medication treatment; one of our articles describes the study and links you to the site so you can be included.

There’s more: our mentoring relationship, wobbling through the holidays, is being taken up, and you can read along to see how Emily will learn from Sara as they exchange E-mails over the next …

This is in response to the article citing comparisons between boys and girls diagnosed (Oct., 2002) with AD/HD:

“These statistics don’t represent how many girls have ADHD, but rather how many girls with AD/HD were diagnosed with AD/HD at the time of the survey, during which time DSM-IV criteria were presumably used to make these diagnoses. These findings suggest that more attention is now being paid to girls’ learning problems.”

Funny that AD/HD should be called “learning problems,” as if that’s all ADD is.

But to my major point: I agree the diagnostic criteria have got to be changed to coincide with the symptoms girls have which persist for years to the extent that we are being diagnosed in adulthood, without doubt from our doctors (many of them) and a part of the diagnostic interview pertains specifically to childhood patterns!!

This is ironic, and tragic.

The current criteria are adequate, …